Saturday, 28 January 2012

If I had real manicure skillz I totally would have replicated the iconic Louis Vuitton monogram print on my nails for this week's post. But my skillz are lacking, and I don’t do brown nails. Brown is gross and for boring people. So instead I went the opposite of boring and went super glittery, because Louis Vuitton screams luxury and wealth, and so do glitter-packed polishes. Enter OPI “Warm & Fozzie” from the Muppets 2011 collection, one of the most ridiculously sparkly polishes I own. It’s packed with bronze, gold, and red microglitter and has a bronze-tinted base that builds up wonderfully in four coats to create some diva-worthy nails. Sparkle on!

in half sunlight

you can see how super glittery it is
when it catches the light!
(very distracting btw)

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

In October 2010 the luxury luggage brand Louis Vuitton released a rather extraordinary book called 100 Legendary Trunks, in which is featured some of the most interesting luggage-type creations owned by some of the world’s most intriguing characters. Houdini had one, Hemingway had one, and Lagerfeld had one, all which kept their chosen luggage safe and sound.

Thinking about how creative and original each of these pieces of luggage are got me to thinking: we get specialized cases made for our physical possessions, but what about our emotional baggage? Unlike our wardrobes, book collections, and our writing desks, we can’t just pack up all the heartaches, arguments, tears, and confusion to be unpacked at a later date. No matter how hard we try to mentally compartmentalize our trauma it seems to leak out at the most inopportune moments. I’ve had those moments where I have no reason to burst into tears, but my eyes just won’t stop leaking, so I know you’ve all had them too. Thankfully I move very quickly past depression into anger because it’s more productive. Maybe the trick isn’t to pack away our trauma, but to channel it into new projects, new jobs, new destinations, new lovers, anything as long as it’s a new direction. Or you can go spend thousands of dollars on therapy, and we all know that money could be harnessed into something more useful. Like a new Louis Vuitton trunk and a plane ticket so you can go on that fabulous vacation to Mallorca!

Saturday, 21 January 2012

When I was doing some Googling around looking for manicure inspiration I was not overly impressed with the range of nail polishes from the Yves Saint Laurent brand. They’re really more of a fashion house than a beauty company, so I forgive them, and they do have some okay colours. I was particularly taken with “Wintergreen,” from the 2011 fall Midnight Garden collection, since it resembled a polish I had and wasn’t sure which theme week it would work with. “Wintergreen” is one of those super dark teals with just a hint of sparkle, just like China Glaze’s “Emerald Fitzgerald,” from the fall 2010 Vintage Vixen Collection! Props to China Glaze for scooping this colour before the design house did! But anyways, I absolutely adore “Emerald Fitzgerald.” It’s so lush and dark and mysterious and everything I look for in a polish! It has a touch more sparkle than the YSL version, but I’ve always said there’s no such thing as too much glitter!

Thursday, 19 January 2012

Yves Saint Laurent was one of the first designers to champion mens-wear for women, and to blend traditional masculine cuts with feminine touches. Le Smoking, Yves’ iconic tuxedo jacket has remained in vogue ever since it was introduced in the 1966 collection, and is a staple of any woman’s wardrobe. I have a couple versions of le smoking in my closet, but my favourite is undoubtedly the rich forest green corduroy by Armor Jeans (the Le Chateau house brand). It’s a pretty basic masculine cut, but the shiny corduroy texture and rich colour gives it a feminine touch. Pair it with skirt or pants, heels or masculine flats (mix and match away!) and you’re guaranteed to have a fabulous outfit!

Tuesday, 17 January 2012

They say that one must suffer to create great art. The fashion industry is no stranger to this theory, as many of the greatest fashion designers endured a great deal of trauma in their lifetimes, and through that they created some of the greatest works of wearable art that the world has seen. The fashion world has seen the untimely death of Christian Dior, the in-fighting of the Gucci clan, the murder of Gianni Versace, and the suicide of Alexander McQueen, but Yves Saint Laurent was the designer who suffered and lived to create a fashion legacy.

Sympathy is not an emotion I’m overly familiar with (I’m more of a fan of “get the fuck over it,” especially in regards to the rich & famous), but reading the YSL biography by Alice Rawsthorn gave me a glimpse into the life of a deeply troubled man who I had previously only thought of as a famous face. The book is a carefully written portrayal of a man who struggled with drug addiction, depression, and dependency, and brings to light themes that are prevalent in the current celebrity lifestyles.

Yet though his struggles Yves can be seen to be one of the most inspirational people of his generation. He pulled through his issues to create some of the most stunning pieces of design work (I’m taking about his iconic le smoking and the rise of prêt-à-porter), became a symbol for the gay community, and shocked the world with innovative ad campaigns. Coco Chanel may have been the mother of French fashion, but Yves Saint Laurent is a designer with a human face. He is a designer with a story that needs to be told. And most importantly: he is a designer who can be learned from.

Saturday, 14 January 2012

I’ve always identified the colour grey with Christian Dior. Not because Paris is often full of rain in the movies, but because grey is one of those über-classy colours that personifies what Dior stands for. Lady-like elegance, chic modernity, the New Look, class, and just a touch of edge.

Christian Dior said it himself that “the colours of grey, pale turquoise, and pink will prevail.” A truer statement couldn’t have been said considering the upcoming spring 2012 trends. I’m not sure about the pale turquoise and pink being everlasting colours (they change tones every season), but grey is here to stay.

Being the colour-purist that I am, finding the perfect shade of grey polish was a challenge. I looked at pages of swatches, but there are surprisingly few proper greys. Most of them have hints of blue, or green, or brown (the worst) in them, or they’re metallics. But I finally found the perfect grey in the least-likely of places: I present to you “Fog”by Joe Fresh! Yes, that’s right, the Superstore-sponsored brand has the best grey, and at less than $4 (usually they’re 3/$10) this polish is a steal! That Joe has a real eye for colour, since they’ve produced some beautiful polishes in shades that are to die for (I’ve featured their polishes “Peacock” and “Iris” already).

Tuesday, 10 January 2012

Everyone makes mistakes. Some big, some small, pretty much all embarrassing. Last year was full of them, even for me. Playing the wrong card, at the wrong time, with the wrong person was a pretty much constant theme. Then again, last year was full of extreme changes, big upheavals, and big choices. Even with meticulous planning it’s not possible to foresee the future, and that’s when mistakes happen.

What makes a person strong is having the courage to make mistakes freely, and then keep going. Even after all the heartbreak & heartache, I’m not someone who crumbles. Years of sitting quietly and allowing myself to be pushed around reached a breaking point last year. It didn’t happen all at once, but I started being more vocal about my anger, one situation at a time. In some cases I chose to take the silent path, and just walked away. Not a lot of people understand why, but that’s because they don’t need to.

This year will no doubt be full of just as many mistakes as last year, but this time around I’m meeting them on my own terms. The people who aren’t worth my time won’t have a place in my life, and I won’t be forced into situations that I don’t want to be in. When I make my mistakes this year, it will be because I choose them. But until that happens, I’m going to float blissfully unaware of what the future holds, and have a lot of fun in the meantime.